Mitsuru vs. Yukiko

[TheRealDMac]

Please use this thread to talk about the matchup!

I'm currently filling in the gaps for Mitsuru, and may contribute notes to the thread myself once I'm finished doing my personal matchup grind.

[AchedSphinx]

I suppose I will give a somewhat thorough analysis of this match up. My gameplay is specific to netplay only, so if you're an offline player your experiences will vary. Also, I am at best an intermediate player, so take my info how you will.

Yukiko is a somewhat rare encounter on netplay and I haven't encountered that many good ones. Nevertheless, the match-up itself is pretty straight forward. She likes to zone and its your job to destroy that. Like other zoners in the game, you'll have to play her the same way here. At the beginning of the round you'll want to create some distance because Yukiko can do some really awkward things. However, you don't want to be predictable so toss in a 5A or something at the start. Since Yukikos like to jump away as well, they will sometimes back dash or air back dash, so you can do Droit A or 2D to catch them for instance. It's a little risky so use it at your own discretion.

The key to dealing with Yukiko is dealing with her persona. Break it as many times as you can, even if you'll take some damage in the process. A good way to do this is either with 5A or sweep. An adequate way to approach is super jump in or dash block. Yukiko will often poke with 2A because her 5A is super slow so be mindful of that. Some block strings she likes to employ include air turn back dash for cross overs and either pushing you back with her persona or doing the persona overhead. The persona overhead is typically done in the corner. She follows this up with 2A to create a pseudo-unblockable. You can avoid this by jump blocking. Another way to deal with her persona overhead from fullscreen is the jump and instant block. You'll regain an air option there and then you'll be able to approach her. Also, in this match up, j.D is probably better versus Yukiko than anyone else because over her recovery.

If Yukiko by some miracle gains lv6 fire amp, watch out for her fire bird attack. It does crazy damage and she can S-hold it. Meaning she can just hold the A button and get it out with invincible start-up. So don't let Yukiko use fire amp. They like to do it when they know they've conditioned the opponent so don't be afraid to mash 5A if she's getting predictable with her resets. The risk vs reward is in your favorite here. Though you won't do crazy damage, you still do damage and you break her persona as well. If she does a Fire break set-up, you can either delay tech or DP to avoid it. If she's close range when she does Maragidyne, you can DP or grab her out of it.

Try not to spam Droit B too much. Yukiko can toss her fans at awkward angles and catch you during the recovery frames and you'll get fatal countered, which can lead to a lot of damage for Yukiko. Also, 2D is pretty good in this match-up as well because Yukiko sometimes set-up their persona in the air at angles that are perfect for 2D to connect. If Yukiko decides to DP, you can max range it with 5A. Her DP will absorb the 5A hit but you won't take damage so you can cancel your 5A into sweep and do some serious damage to her. And if you're left with no other option and she does Firebreak Maragidyne, SB bufudyne or IK to avoid the damage.

Overall, I believe the match up is 60/40. Mitsuru's favor.